Who regulates Kindergartens in Kashmir?

SRINAGAR — The kindergarten—a pre-school playgroup—institutions in Kashmir valley are operating without any regulatory framework of the government.

Sources at the Directorate School of Education Kashmir (DSEK) told the news agency KNO that they have nothing to do with the kindergarten schools as they are not supposed to regulate them.

Pertinently, the valley has witnessed a huge surge in establishing new kindergartens in the past many years.

President of Private Schools Association Kashmir G. N. Var said, “Nobody is monitoring and regulating the kindergartens. This is a grey area and no rule has been made for the institutions that fall under the crèche category.”

Var also said that the kindergarten owners kept the pre-school playgroup under a name of crèche which always goes un-governed and unregulated. “Now the government has come up with some influence to regulate them but that is also yet to be implemented,” Var added.

He said, “A lot of parents have come up with the complaints but nothing has been done to streamline it.”

A mother of two wards, Yasmeena Subhan told KNO that she was compelled to send her twins to the crèche. “Earlier there was a competition and race in private schools only but a new trend of sending toddlers to expensive crèche has emerged from the past many years.”

“Parents never bother to ask the kindergarten authorities about the grant of licences and regularity board of their pre-school and kindergarten authorities take it for granted and usually discuss only timing and the fee structure in their respective kindergartens,” she added.

Meanwhile, the Director of School Education Kashmir, Tasaduq Hussain Mir did not respond to the repeated calls.